If noir thrillers and crime fiction have taught me anything over the years, it's that every grizzled detective has some kind of vice or inherent problem to contend with. That's certainly true of many of the great video game gumshoes I've become acquainted with in the indie scene. From Frog Detective who's constantly overshadowed by number one investigator, Lobster Cop, to Eugene McQuacklin of Duck Detective fame who has a financially ruinous penchant for bread, no sleuth is without their flaws. Now I find myself in the shoes of another animal PI – only this time it's a humanoid bipedal cat who's flat broke thanks to some dicey horse-related gambling debts.
Yes, even in Cat Detective Albert Wilde, the titular feline has his flaws. But when you've got the added pressure of an empty wallet and an angry moose demanding reimbursement, you have all the more incentive to solve a case you come across to score yourself the reward money. The point-and-click-style adventure from developer beyondthosehills clocks in at around six hours, and it's absolutely dripping with humor, weird antics, and an aesthetic look and feel that's heavily inspired by 1930's noir. The case it takes me on really lives up to Albert's name by going to some wild(e) places, and I'm curious to see how it'll come to a close. But if you're in need of a good laugh and some investigative goodness, it's well worth checking out.
Feline findings
The '30s noire inspirations are obvious right away, with Cat Detective Albert Wilde greeting me into the story with credits that play in an old-timey frame you'd normally see in movies of that decade. There's also a constant grainy film visual that lends it that gritty gumshoe feel and brings to mind the likes of Angels with Dirty Faces and the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I'm immediately taken with Albert's monologuing, which is constantly filled with lines that wouldn't be out of place in any noir detective romp, if only for the fact that he often says humorous cat-related versions. "I'm always on the prowl… for the truth, for criminal scum, for a nice bowlful of milk when I get the chance" is just one line of many that comes to mind.
Pretty much right away you learn that Albert is down-on-his-luck, with no money to his name after a spot of gambling. With no coin and no case, my first objective is simple: find a job. After failing to smooth talk my way to a copy of a newspaper from a salesman who has a bird's head (every character has an animal head imposed onto a human body which gives it a weird uncanny look), I have to talk to a moose called Rudy who it turns out I owe money to. Fortunately against his better judgement, he loans me just one more dollar so I can snap up a paper and search for job listings.. aka any news about local crimes to enquire about.
When I'm in control, it switches to a first person view in an entirely black and white setting. Anytime I can interact with something, it's highlighted by a little yellow dot, such a can lying in the street. When I go over and click on the discarded can near the newsstand as I search for work, Albert questions why he's even bothering to look at it, and I'm reminded of the many times I've picked up a piece of garbage in LA Noire and inspect it, which would lead protagonist Cole to say aloud "it's just junk". But you never know what a clue might be, and I'm nothing if not a thorough investigator.
Once I find a newspaper clipping about a mysterious dead body, I'm on the phone to the police chief to ask about the investigation, but as is ever the case for Albert, I've apparently wronged them in some way, too. Practically everyone I meet is either pretty reluctant to help, or not especially pleased to see me, but such is the life of a flawed feline PI who has to do a lot of snooping. Once the chief eventually gives up the information I need and lets me in on the case– thanks to my incessant calling from an old fashioned boxed telephone hanging in my office – I can open up a map and travel to the crime scene.
Each time I change location on the map, be it to a point of interest, or my office, it will switch to a brief cutscene of Albert driving his era appropriate car, and I love the way he'll continue narrating throughout the journey. It really is so very noir. At the scene, I get stuck into classic investigative work, which is quite simple: talk to people (or in this instance a flamingo) of interest nearby, and look at objects that might serve as clues. First off, though, I need to look at the body, which is where things start getting weird… because the body has Albert's face, but the cat on the ground appears to have been walking on four legs instead of two… what is the world coming to?
The flamingo witness is the next port of call, but the pink feathered fellow refuses to give up any pertinent information unless I agree to impress them by dancing. I may have seven lives, but I don't have the moves I need, so it's off to the dance studio to learn a new routine. At this point I fully accept that you'll never be able to predict what will happen next in this particular crime caper, but it's all the better for it.
Because of that, I don't want to spoil any more – it's the kind of experience worth going into without too much knowledge. All I'll say is that from my foray into the world of dance, you can venture into some sewers, meet a praying mantis, and maybe even come across some quantum physics-based escapades. Yes, really. If that doesn't pique your interest, I don't know what will. If you're in need of a good chuckle and something silly, surprising, and a bit strange, here's a clue: don't miss this one.
Cat Detective Albert Wilde is out now on PC. For more recommendations, check out our Indie Spotlight series or see what's ahead with our roundup of upcoming indie games.
